Alleged child killer ruled incompetent to stand trial

Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 2:07 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 10:27 p.m.

A Lafourche Parish judge has concluded for the second time that a Thibodaux man accused of decapitating his son is not fit to stand trial.

It is the opposite of the conclusion of state doctors who treated him and determined he is mentally competent to face a murder charge.

Instead, Judge John LeBlanc, in a decision issued Tuesday, sided with attorneys for Jeremiah Wright, 31, who argued over a six-day hearing that the doctors’ opinions were faulty and biased.

Wright will return to the state mental hospital in Jackson that released him, and doctors will try again to determine his mental state. He will not be able to leave the hospital.

“In light of all the evidence and testimony, the court finds that Jeremiah Lee Wright does not have the ability to maintain a consistent defense, to listen to witnesses and inform his lawyers of distortions or misstatements, to make simple decisions in response to well-explained alternatives, and to testify in his own defense, if necessary,” LeBlanc wrote in his filings accompanying his judgment.

Lafourche District Attorney Cam Morvant II said the judge has made his decision, and “it is what it is.”

Wright “is going to be sent back to the East Feliciana Mental Hospital for reevaluation, and I have no control over that,” Morvant said. “If they find him competent to proceed, I’m sure they’re going to alert the judge, and we’ll have another hearing. ... I don’t necessarily have an opinion or comment about it.”

State law says doctors can try again to treat Wright until he’s competent for a “reasonable” period of time.

There is no set timeline or deadline, Morvant said. In one case Morvant handled, this process took five years.

If doctors find they cannot make him competent, Wright will simply stay in the state mental hospital.

In his filings, LeBlanc takes issue with the report the state mental hospital issued when it declared him mentally fit. LeBlanc points out that the psychologist and psychiatrist who authored the report wrote there was no evidence Wright was mentally ill, even though a few tests Wright took during his time in the hospital found that he was.

“The many issues, inaccuracies, omissions and concerns regarding their testimony and their findings in the ... report affect their credibility and bear negatively on the weight of their opinions,” LeBlanc wrote.

Like Wright’s defense attorneys, LeBlanc pointed out that they relied heavily on a statement Wright made to the psychologist in July 2012 about killing his son, 7-year-old Jori Lirette. “The more I cut with a hacksaw, the more I saw it was real. The blood and guts convinced me,” Wright said, according to the psychologist’s documents read aloud in court.

“This conversation ... was sufficient to convince (psychologist Glenn) Ahava that Wright had been restored to competency,” LeBlanc wrote. “All testing ceased. There were no further progress notes generated. The fact is that after nine months of unsuccessful (treatment) ... it took Dr. Ahava and Dr. (Mark) Wilson 11 days to refer Wright back to the court.”

Wright arrived at the hospital in October 2011. The murder happened in Lirette’s Thibodaux home Aug. 14, 2011, authorities said.

One of Wright’s attorneys, Kerry Cuccia of the Capital Defense Project, said his team agrees with LeBlanc’s ruling.

“We wanted to show the judge, when you looked at the entirety of the hospital records and the report, the report was unreliable ... because their conclusions did not encompass everything that took place then,” Cuccia said.

Expert witnesses diverged in their opinions of whether Wright could understand the legal proceedings and help his lawyer make his case — the stipulations required to be fit.

Some said Wright’s professed delusion that his son, who had cerebral palsy, was not a real person, rather, something like a CPR dummy or a robot, meant he was not fit. Others said he was fit, despite these delusions.

And his doctors who examined and treated him at the state mental hospital suggested he may be lying about these delusions. He made statements to guards at the hospital that he was on “Easy Street” because he had a good lawyer. He also told a hospital psychologist that Jori was his son “right up to the end.”

LeBlanc noted in his judgment how drastically experts’ opinions varied.

“In addition to the 60 or so exhibits into evidence, the expert witnesses examined approximately 5,000 pages of documentation regarding Mr. Wright. Perhaps this is why their opinions vary the way they do. It is clear to the court that in the field of mental health, there is a large amount of subjectivity which overlays the interpretation of both the evaluation process and the interactions/observations of the person being examined,” LeBlanc wrote.

Lirette’s mother, Jesslyn Lirette, and grandmother, Delene Himel, said they were extremely angry with LeBlanc’s judgment.

Wright “knew what he was doing, before this (killing) happened and while this happened,” Jesslyn Lirette said. “I hope he enjoys his padded room because no matter what, he will never enjoy life. He has to live with what he has done every day, and I hope it eats away at him like the parasite he is.”

If she could talk to the judge, Himel said she would ask him, “What were you thinking? What was going through your head to think he couldn’t help his lawyers?”

Wright planned the killing, going as far as to act mentally unstable — doing things like saying there was a monster in the closet and that he was hearing voices call him names — so he would scare people out of his house and be alone to kill Jori Lirette, Himel said.

Himel said she’s afraid that if doctors can’t treat Wright to the extent where he can go to trial, the judge will eventually let Wright walk free.

This is a possibility, if the judge finds that Wright “is no longer a danger to himself or others,” Morvant has said.

However, Tulane University law professor Katherine Mattes has said that is highly unlikely in Wright’s case.

<p>A Lafourche Parish judge has concluded for the second time that a Thibodaux man accused of decapitating his son is not fit to stand trial.</p><p>It is the opposite of the conclusion of state doctors who treated him and determined he is mentally competent to face a murder charge.</p><p>Instead, Judge John LeBlanc, in a decision issued Tuesday, sided with attorneys for Jeremiah Wright, 31, who argued over a six-day hearing that the doctors' opinions were faulty and biased.</p><p>Wright will return to the state mental hospital in Jackson that released him, and doctors will try again to determine his mental state. He will not be able to leave the hospital.</p><p>“In light of all the evidence and testimony, the court finds that Jeremiah Lee Wright does not have the ability to maintain a consistent defense, to listen to witnesses and inform his lawyers of distortions or misstatements, to make simple decisions in response to well-explained alternatives, and to testify in his own defense, if necessary,” LeBlanc wrote in his filings accompanying his judgment.</p><p>Lafourche District Attorney Cam Morvant II said the judge has made his decision, and “it is what it is.”</p><p>Wright “is going to be sent back to the East Feliciana Mental Hospital for reevaluation, and I have no control over that,” Morvant said. “If they find him competent to proceed, I'm sure they're going to alert the judge, and we'll have another hearing. ... I don't necessarily have an opinion or comment about it.”</p><p>State law says doctors can try again to treat Wright until he's competent for a “reasonable” period of time.</p><p>There is no set timeline or deadline, Morvant said. In one case Morvant handled, this process took five years.</p><p>If doctors find they cannot make him competent, Wright will simply stay in the state mental hospital.</p><p>In his filings, LeBlanc takes issue with the report the state mental hospital issued when it declared him mentally fit. LeBlanc points out that the psychologist and psychiatrist who authored the report wrote there was no evidence Wright was mentally ill, even though a few tests Wright took during his time in the hospital found that he was.</p><p>“The many issues, inaccuracies, omissions and concerns regarding their testimony and their findings in the ... report affect their credibility and bear negatively on the weight of their opinions,” LeBlanc wrote.</p><p>Like Wright's defense attorneys, LeBlanc pointed out that they relied heavily on a statement Wright made to the psychologist in July 2012 about killing his son, 7-year-old Jori Lirette. “The more I cut with a hacksaw, the more I saw it was real. The blood and guts convinced me,” Wright said, according to the psychologist's documents read aloud in court.</p><p>“This conversation ... was sufficient to convince (psychologist Glenn) Ahava that Wright had been restored to competency,” LeBlanc wrote. “All testing ceased. There were no further progress notes generated. The fact is that after nine months of unsuccessful (treatment) ... it took Dr. Ahava and Dr. (Mark) Wilson 11 days to refer Wright back to the court.”</p><p>Wright arrived at the hospital in October 2011. The murder happened in Lirette's Thibodaux home Aug. 14, 2011, authorities said.</p><p>One of Wright's attorneys, Kerry Cuccia of the Capital Defense Project, said his team agrees with LeBlanc's ruling.</p><p>“We wanted to show the judge, when you looked at the entirety of the hospital records and the report, the report was unreliable ... because their conclusions did not encompass everything that took place then,” Cuccia said.</p><p>Expert witnesses diverged in their opinions of whether Wright could understand the legal proceedings and help his lawyer make his case — the stipulations required to be fit.</p><p>Some said Wright's professed delusion that his son, who had cerebral palsy, was not a real person, rather, something like a CPR dummy or a robot, meant he was not fit. Others said he was fit, despite these delusions.</p><p>And his doctors who examined and treated him at the state mental hospital suggested he may be lying about these delusions. He made statements to guards at the hospital that he was on “Easy Street” because he had a good lawyer. He also told a hospital psychologist that Jori was his son “right up to the end.”</p><p>LeBlanc noted in his judgment how drastically experts' opinions varied.</p><p>“In addition to the 60 or so exhibits into evidence, the expert witnesses examined approximately 5,000 pages of documentation regarding Mr. Wright. Perhaps this is why their opinions vary the way they do. It is clear to the court that in the field of mental health, there is a large amount of subjectivity which overlays the interpretation of both the evaluation process and the interactions/observations of the person being examined,” LeBlanc wrote.</p><p>Lirette's mother, Jesslyn Lirette, and grandmother, Delene Himel, said they were extremely angry with LeBlanc's judgment.</p><p>Wright “knew what he was doing, before this (killing) happened and while this happened,” Jesslyn Lirette said. “I hope he enjoys his padded room because no matter what, he will never enjoy life. He has to live with what he has done every day, and I hope it eats away at him like the parasite he is.”</p><p>If she could talk to the judge, Himel said she would ask him, “What were you thinking? What was going through your head to think he couldn't help his lawyers?”</p><p>Wright planned the killing, going as far as to act mentally unstable — doing things like saying there was a monster in the closet and that he was hearing voices call him names — so he would scare people out of his house and be alone to kill Jori Lirette, Himel said.</p><p>Himel said she's afraid that if doctors can't treat Wright to the extent where he can go to trial, the judge will eventually let Wright walk free.</p><p>This is a possibility, if the judge finds that Wright “is no longer a danger to himself or others,” Morvant has said.</p><p>However, Tulane University law professor Katherine Mattes has said that is highly unlikely in Wright's case.</p><p>“Practically speaking — something like this? I can't imagine the judge would,” Mattes has said.</p><p><i>Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.</i></p>